


Stalker.

by SS98



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Baby Louis, Bottom Louis, Daddy Harry, Dancing, Dark Harry, Detective Harry, Detective Louis, Dom Harry, Explicit Sexual Content, Innocent Louis, Louis grinds, M/M, Police, Random Niall, Rimming, Rough Sex, Sexual Content, Stalker, Stalking, Sub Louis, Top Harry, ambiguous ending, clubs, lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 16:49:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5750788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SS98/pseuds/SS98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>I came to check on you.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Based on the TV show, Stalker. </p><p>Louis being followed by someone who leaves rose petals and fragrances in his home for him to find. </p><p> </p><p>  <b>"You should take me seriously, baby boy. I know what's good for you."</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	Stalker.

**_[A/N: Inspired by the show Stalker that my mother introduced to meeee. Any fans? - S xx]_ **

Strange things have been happening to Louis for a few days now and he's not so sure it's the prank of Niall and his usual crew anymore.

_January 14th, 2015_

Coming home after the longest shift at the precinct has always been the second best part of doing it at all, the first obviously being bringing in another psychopath from roaming the streets. Louis works as a detective specialising in the repercussions of stalkers, victims and hostages. 

He's just brought in Brady McCallin who, as per the record, has had his eye on a lonely young woman who lived on the better side of the neighbourhood. The crazed look present in every sociopath's eyes did not fail Brady and Louis got to see it first-hand at the interrogation.

Right now all he wants is a glass of the Chardonnay he keeps for every night after a catch and a tub filled with jasmine bubble bath. With a heavy sigh and his weight dragging behind his intent, Louis ditches his satchel for a wine glass.

He stops short at the state his kitchen is in.

On the linoleum counter top is the sight of scattered rose petals, some white and some blood-red. Nothing on the tiled floor to make a mess. Amongst the petals were place settings, _two._

Grey serviettes folded in triangles across three size-wise coordinated plates, silver designs printed around the circular edging. Spotless cutlery were flanking both sides over the woven place-mats and crystal wine glasses were complementing the entire organisation.

He doesn't blame his automatic reflex for making him drop his phone, the impact causing the screen to shatter. With shaky hands, Louis can't contain his alarming instincts flaring all over his second nature. The first act of investigation he conducts is arming himself with his Browning 9mm and inspecting every room in his apartment.

All empty.

Without thought he checks the alarm system and rigs it for the perimeter before getting back to his phone, taking photographs of everything that's been altered. Those photos sat in his hard-drive, assigned to a special folder labelled 'Stalker' to this day.

_January 23rd, 2015_

"Hey, Lou!" His partner of five years now calls to him from their joint office.

Louis spins around with his jacket folded over his forearm, cheeks puffed out in mock exaggeration. "What now, Styles?"

Harry is grinning like a kid displaced in Charlie's chocolate factory, jogging over to where Louis stood. He flashes two light blue tickets in front of him. "The Opera?"

"You know I hate the Opera, Haz." Louis smiles softly at his tower of a best friend, double checking for his keys and phone. 

"I'm kidding. It's the premiere of the new Tom Cruise movie." Harry chuckles, following Louis on his way to the set of glass double doors. 

"Really?" Louis' been meaning to catch that much between work and an overzealous old friend coming in from Middleston, he has to decline. 

Hope lights up Harry's features while Louis is ducking down to sign out. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"You know better than to ask me that." Louis' laugh is accentuated by his wink. 

Harry's friendly and signature smirk broadened his smile to something more meaningful. "So that's a no?"

"Are the tickets for tonight?" Louis asks once they're outside and he's slipping on his favourite Adidas jacket. 

"Yes." Harry coughs into his fist and appears casual to the people passing them buy, the unruly wind whipping his chocolate locks about and into his eyes though he carefully ignores it. 

"Then it's a no." Louis truly sounds apologetic and Harry knows that. "See you later, Daddy."

The nickname is innocent and conjured up after their third case together. A sugardaddy had went after the gardener who his contracted sugarbaby was otherwise engaged in. The whole intimidation technique went South and the entire love triangle ended up in Hell, the richest one in prison.

"Goodnight, baby boy."

Louis gets home after a ten minute drive and stop at McDonalds to pick up supper for Niall and him. He's got to be at his apartment before Niall gets there from the airport, shower and arrange the guest bedroom in time.

Instead of doing all that, Louis finds himself staring blankly at his bathroom counter. He stutters to himself in a jumble of useless words as he looks back and forth between the bottles of fragrances that wasn't there when he left in the morning. 

One baby blue and one the lightest shade of pink. They were both pricey by the identical brand name alone and the folded note that sat beside them was calling to Louis' twitching fingers. He glanced over his shoulder and quickly snatched up the letter, letting out a shivering breath. There were no words on it, just the drawn picture of a bird's feather.

_February 13th, 2015_

"James, listen to me." Louis was sitting across from one James Thrillen who has been following a local actress. 

"No, you listen to me!" James shouted and flung the files Louis had laid out, making Harry's fist tense where it wrapped around a bar on Louis' chair. "She _loved_ me! She did!"

Louis sighs defeatedly and sits back, Harry's hand slipping away immediately. "She hasn't spoken with you outside of the time you attacked her in her home, James."

Someone knocked on the door of the interrogation room and Harry handled it while Louis watched James pace around the space he's allowed. Two seconds later, Harry is leaning over his shoulder and whispering in his ear.

"Detective Stanger wants you." He says softly, allowing Louis the space to get up. "I'll wrap it up here."

Louis walked to the office of their boss, drumming his fingers on his thigh as he went. The office cubicles were part of a hive of noise and activity until he got to Detective Stanger's office, finding out that his receptionist wasn't in work today. Nobody was her replacement so Louis just tapped on the closed door for a moment before going in.

The office is empty and Detective Stanger is nowhere to be seen even beyond it, the curtains drawn over the windows and computer shut down. Louis is about to walk out and chew Harry's ear off about incorrect messages when he spots something on the desk pad Detective Stanger had personalised.

Stepping into the room with his fists curled tightly at his sides, Louis shuts the door and approaches the heavy duty oak table. Atop the surface was a Sherlock Holmes novel, the front image print covered by a light brown feather.

_March 29th, 2015_

Louis has been guarded for the past three months, giving nothing away if he was asked if he was okay or if something bad happened. He went to work and did his job, came home some days to nothing. There hasn't been anything extraordinary happening in a while and he's so thankful for it, because with his little sister in town he didn't want a mishap or worse coming to light.

"Hey, baby boy." Harry comes around Louis' desk and sits back on it, tossing an apple up in the air.

"Hmm." Louis is chewing away at the eraser of his pencil, making a frown with his brow when the rubber breaks off. He quickly closes the folder he had open with all his personal photographs regarding the sudden unexplained changes in his home. "What's up, Daddy?"

"I came to cordially check on you. Got any plans for tonight?" Harry gets his fruit snatched away by Louis.

"My sister's in town." He takes a large enough bite into the flesh of the crimson apple, chewing with a closed mouth. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry looks genuinely outraged, eyes drifting away from Louis' teeth sinking into the apple. "You know Phoebe and I are best pals."

Louis taps Harry's pectoral with his finger, waking up from his chair and extracting his USB. "This job is getting to you. My sister despises you and you're becoming delusional."

Harry throws his head back and laughs, accepting the apple that's handed back into him. He takes a bite of his own. "Phoebe loves my chicken pot pie."

"Maybe you can bring her some tonight then." Louis proposes, sporting a devious grin that shows his perfect teeth. "We're going to the ice rink first so around eight?"

"You have a deal." Harry holds the door open for them both and they bid adieu to their team members. "Say, what's your favourite choice in my cooking?"

"I've only had like three things, Haz." Louis flips up the collar to keep the dew and wind away from his neck. "I'd say the chocolate mousse thing you made last year for my birthday."

Harry bites his lip and suspiciously quirks his brow. "The one with rum?"

"Precisely." Louis pats his torso with a small hand and steps back after signing out. "I'll see you tonight at eight then?"

"You will." Harry confirms, his hand grabbing the handle of Louis' car door before he can. "Laters, baby boy."

Louis laughs and climbs into the driver's seat, already red in his cheeks. "You're obsessed with this."

"I'll be the judge of that." Harry closes his door with a sound thud and steps back on the pavement. 

"Alright. Laters, Daddy." He remembers something just before pulling into traffic. "Hey! Can you bring over those Disney cartoons you have?"

Harry rolls his eyes but nods. "Of course."

Later that night after Louis nearly sprains his ankle at the ice rink, his twelve year-old sibling doing circles around him, he feels a presence. The hairs at the back of his neck stand up and his skin crawls with motive, his head snapping from side to side trying to suss out who it might be that made him uneasy.

"Phoebe?" He called for his baby sister and she slid over to him, her gloved hand slipping into his. "Stay close to me, okay?"

His paranoia does not subside even after there's a crowd of other people enjoying their time here. The cold bites the exposed parts of him and Phoebe is his main concern for tonight, but Louis can't kick the sensation alerting him that someone is watching them.

Being a detective means he knows where to look and that instinct overrides his protectiveness just for a moment when he looks over to the huddling group of pine trees behind the corndog stand. It wasn't a shadow so much as it was the actual silhouette of a man in all black, facing them no doubt. He didn't appear to be moving and stood there with his legs parted, tall in stature and broad in build, faceless and observing.

Louis wanted to act on this development but Phoebe was with him and he could not put her in danger. He stayed at her side while she skated and held her hand or both, always looking back at those pine trees at the stranger watching them. After his third glimpse, there was nothing left to see.

Coming home just before eight, Louis found Harry leaning against the wall opposite to his apartment door with a cigarette between his lips. He knew Harry hadn't spotted him yet and walked up to the hunched male, pulling the fag from his mouth.

"We have little eyes and ears." Louis said to the man after Harry realised it wasn't an assailant, and he relaxed into a calm composure with a confident smile. "Keep it PG please."

"You got it." Harry got handed the box of cupcakes Louis picked up and knelt down. "Hey there, Phoebe."

The little girl threw herself at Harry and hugged him tight, remembering him from previous visits to her brother. Harry chuckles and gets to his feet with her in his arms.

"Happy to see me, huh?" Harry let's Louis lock the door behind him, following his partner to the kitchen. 

"Yeah!" Phoebe crowed, still in her pink beanie and long-sleeved tutu ensemble. "Lou promised I could see you."

Louis is making a face at the food he's unpacking from the trays Harry brought along. He salivates at the sight of his rare chocolate and rum delicacy, placing it in the fridge to set further. The chicken skewers and mini bacon burgers go into plates for the microwave whilst Louis slides the chicken pot pie into the oven to warm up.

"Take care of her?" Louis kisses Phoebe's forehead. "I'm going to shower."

"Aye, aye." Harry winks and carries Phoebe to the living room, sitting her down on the couch. 

Her big brother is gone into his bedroom when Phoebe starts to talk. "Do you like my brother, Hazhead?" 

Hazhead is Phoebe's nickname for Harry after their first meeting led to her crying and he needing a way to redeem himself after dropping pancake batter all over her. "It's complicated, Phoebe."

"I don't think so." She argues, sitting back against the couch and kicking her feet up to be crossed. "He likes you too."

Harry is filling a glass with water for himself when he freezes, studying the hand lotion Louis keeps beside the sink. "What?"

"Yeah." She replies, loud and with a stuffed nose. "He thinks you are Mister t-tall, dark and hand-handsome."

His mind is sent into overdrive with this information. "Thank you, Phoebe."

_June 30th, 2015_

Niall has somehow managed to convince Louis that a nightclub establishment is worthy of his time from ten o'clock to whenever he can't take it anymore. Following these guidelines, Louis finds himself hesitant to leave his desk when it's time to go home.

He hasn't seen anyone in a little over a year now, his last boyfriend being the one to take his virginity before they simply fell apart. No one was to blame in that scenario because after a month of heartbreak, of Harry trying to tear his door down, he's grown above that.

Harry is as fine a man on the inside and the outside as any person will ever have in their company. He is sweet, sickeningly charming and loyal to a fault. Louis has been his best friend for half a decade and maybe feelings of more than that have developed recently, but fraternising with fellow officers is against the rules. He'll have to wait until they're both retired or one is moved to another precinct, not certain which option is most frightening.

"You okay, Lou?" Harry and he have offices next to each other, a portion of the wall at their seated eye-level was broken down so they'd be in constant contact. 

Louis snaps out of his trance dictating how hopeless he'll forever be in the love department and forces a smile. "Yeah, just thinking."

He gets a smile back, deep dimples and all. Harry is sorting through some kind of paperwork the way Louis was supposed to. "Thinking 'bout what?"

The telephone lines ring off the hook outside, given it's Saturday and people go crazy on Saturdays. Louis turns his chair to face Harry, taking on the posture of a kid with his knees folded and pen between his teeth. "You remember Niall, right?"

Harry pauses to think about it. "Yes."

"Well he wants to take me out to a nightclub tonight." Louis' lips form a pout just thinking about it.

"On a date?" Harry frowns at his documentation and clenches his fist around the one he's merely holding aside.

"No, as friends. But the point is to find me a date.....of sorts." Louis' done with his story and mimicking hand gestures.

Harry sits back in his leather cushioned chair that Louis called the lumbar Nirvana. His partner had a notoriously bad back and needed the therapeutic assistance. "Don't go."

Louis actually giggles at that, noticing Harry's concentration all on him as he does so. "You make it sound so simple."

"Because it is." Harry doesn't look at him and is suddenly waking up from his seat with assorted filing in his hand. He peeks through the hole in the wall with an uncomfortable grimace that seems to be smoothing itself out. "Don't go, okay?"

"Well-" Louis takes his pen out of his lips, partially pondering over why Harry looks like he's in pain. "-you try telling Niall that."

"I will." Harry replies and straightens up, leaving Louis to stare at his crotch through the gap. 

"Wait, what?" Louis hops up from his chair, feet covered in black socks as he jogs out of his office to where Harry will be exiting his own.

Harry's smile curls half his lip, leaving one dimple to form and a peek of his canine to be visible. His lopsided grin is definitely a worthy one and Louis thinks it's like looking at two personalities on one face. The leaner male is putting his blazer on over his light blue dress shirt and Louis notices that he's found time to undo the top three buttons. 

"Relax, Lou." Harry wraps his arm around Louis' shoulders and hugs him graciously. "I don't even know Niall."

"Oh." Louis doesn't like that he feels more relieved that he should and how Harry's previous cryptic responses seemed to have boiled over to his regularly bunny with a gun best friend. "Why don't you come to the club place tonight?"

Harry raises both eyebrows down at the little package of dynamite that is his closest companion. "Gosh, Lou! You know we can't associate outside of work."

Louis realises that Harry did it for the benefit of their Boss walking past them, who stops because of the comment made. Detective Stanger is middle-aged and already balding from fifteen years on the force. "Can it, Styles. You can associate all you want as long as you don't bring it in to work with you."

Harry and Louis salute him, ever the mischievous pair of the team. "Got it, Sir."

Detective Stanger eyes them before his chuckle makes it evident that he could never punish them. He's got the best forensic and detective team-players this side of the hemisphere. "Don't come in tomorrow. I need you both earlier than the bird on Monday."

"Tomorrow is Sunday, Boss." Harry points out, hand on Louis' lower back without either of them noticing it. "We weren't coming in anyway."

Louis is reeling from the mention of a bird and he tries to hide how the word affects him. Harry's cologne is awfully close to his senses but Louis doesn't mind because the man always made use of his multiple customer credit accounts to purchase the finest perfumes.

Thinking of the cologne also gets a leap out of his heart from his chest to his throat. Apart from the ice rink, he hasn't seen any shifts in his peaceful routine from the stranger in black clothing who tags along behind him everywhere he goes. Even so, it feels like he's always watched by these eyes. Their purpose he didn't know but he's developed quite a few enemies and their ability to get into his home terrifies him into always carrying a gun.

As planned, three hours later he's in the nightclub with a refreshingly loud Niall who has the brightest smile in the world. Aside from his fake blond friend from back home, Harry is here sitting beside him chatting fluidly with them. 

The club is raving with activity and the music happens to be all tunes Louis recognises. He's had too much to drink already and is leaning towards his right, feeling unstable on the tall bar stool. His right side happens to be the side Harry is on, draping an arm over Louis' shoulders to keep him steady.

"How's work, Lou?" Niall has to shout to speak, taking on a red, green and blue skin tone. 

Louis giggles because he looks like the cat from Alice in Wonderland. "Fine!"

"You can't be drunk already!" Niall's wide Irish eyes speak of his surprise, his laughter getting drowned out by the shouts and bass.

There's a kiss on Louis' forehead that makes him feel fuzzy inside. Harry speaks up for him. "My baby boy isn't the best alcoholic."

"Baby boy?" Niall takes a suspiciously long sip of his beer, eyes in the corners of his eyes watching them. "What's that about?"

Immediately, Louis responds. "I wanna tell him!"

Harry chuckles to himself although keeping his arm around Louis, dropped to his waist now. "Go ahead, Lou."

Louis narrates the story about the origin of their mildly affectionate nicknames, breaking it up to sneeze or giggle. He really is an awful drunk, always laughing and pouting. He relates himself to a cupcake, which reminds him that he's hungry.

That evaporates when he turns towards Harry. The man is illuminated by the darkest hues in the strobe lights and he's smirking in a way that makes him lethal in his appeal. Louis gasps out loud at his mind conjuring up the preposterous image of Harry will _all_ his buttons undone.

"Come on." Harry drowns his amber-coloured drink and slams it down on the counter, taking Louis' hand in his. "Let's get some of the alcohol out of your system."

Louis' a lot shocked at this proposition but isn't against it, definitely not. He's a little disappointed when Harry actually means that they entertain the thought of dancing rather than something else. Trying to be a sport, Louis let's Harry reach down to grasp his hips and spins around to have his back on Harry's chest. 

The man is an all-encompassing presence that's strong and protective in the way Harry's arms are securing his body to his. They're pressed tightly together by the packed bodies around them, the music declaring how they'll move for majority of the time. Harry brings his mouth to Louis' neck and that's it really, to have a pair of sinfully plump lips dropping kisses and nips on his _second_ most sensitive region. 

Louis brings his hand back to Harry's nape, fingers tangled those artful but terribly unruly curls. He arches his back for the opportunity to have more of Harry's lips on his bare skin, biting his lip when he gets it. Harry's hands tighten Hellishly on his flesh until there will certainly be bruises, small groans leaving him from Louis' behind grinding back on him.

He's so sure Harry is saying something but Louis can't hear any of it. The blood racing through his veins is singing with unspoken arousal, his pants already tighter from Harry's fingertips edging close to groping his ass. It's been a weakness of Louis', to have his behind worshipped first.

"Feel good, baby boy?" Harry can be heard now, whispering seductively in Louis' reddened ear where his teeth grazed. 

It felt like Harry was part of that blood now, making it boil to a point of unbearable _want_. Louis whines high in his throat and Harry latches onto the pale papery skin where he knows the sound originates, biting down hard and sucking feverishly to leave a mark.

If there was ever any doubt about whether or not they'd go home together, Louis squashed it by whispering a goodbye in Niall's ear and pulling Harry behind him to catch a cab. He cares not for a seatbelt and remembers climbing into his partner's lap before they're even properly on the road, tasting the territory of Harry's neck and clavicle while large hands roamed over his body.

He remembers saying things - _dirty things_ \- into Harry's ear during that trip, nibbling on the man's earlobe as he desperately ground his hips into Harry's. It all worked towards getting Harry hot and bothered enough, for enough cash was flung onto the seat before Harry got out at their stop and carried Louis with him. 

Louis was wrapped around him possessively, laying drunken kisses all over his throat and threading his fingers through Harry's hair. He sucked a red bruise into Harry's skin where he couldn't cover it up and got pinned to the elevator wall of Harry's apartment building. 

His body went up in flames that tore him open as Harry held his hands above his head, filthily rounding his crotch into Louis' and swallowing all his noises. Harry's tongue tasted like raspberries and Scotch, an intoxicating combination when it was shoved past his lips and flicked against the roof of his mouth. 

Louis already had Harry's shirt undone by the time they reached the man's apartment door. Harry was grunting and breathing harshly into Louis' shoulder, the door whipping shut behind them before his back hits the nearest wall. Harry tells him his plans for him, how good he's going to feel with a c*ck he's always wanted but never got. He has the dirtiest mouth on the prettiest face and Louis believes everything Harry says, throwing his head back and kicking off his shoes before being dropped on the bed.

They spend the entire remainder of the night going at each other like starved animals. Harry is harsh and brutal in his thrusts, always fucking the air out of Louis and bruising him all over with his hands or mouth. He holds Louis down and bites his lip as he pounds into him like a vessel to be used, ruining Louis' insides with his urgency. 

There isn't a surface in Harry's bedroom where the man hasn't held Louis hostage, pressing him down or bending him over. Harry couldn't be drunk but the way he drew the curtains just to hold Louis up against them completely bare before taking him, said that maybe he was. There's no way the person Louis goes to work with everyday is the same man utterly destroying his ass right now.

Harry also dares to make Louis call him Daddy. It actually sort of slips out as a tease from Louis' end but he ends up screaming it at the top of his lungs during his time supporting himself over a chest of drawers, Harry rapidly pivoting his hips to punch his tender prostate with a type of animalistic interest.

Harry also has great stamina because he blows Louis' mind with how long he holds out before flooding his body with come, choosing to drown him in it from the inside out. Louis had no choice but to lie there and take it, more than happy to do so because the fantasy of being used is one that's still alive.

When they're finally too exhausted to move more than a flinch, they're both on the floor covered in Harry's plush comforter. Louis feel extraordinarily sensitive and cannot lie on his back, still leaking warm come from his abused hole that dampened his quivering thighs and dripped out onto the sheets they'd tossed onto the floor. 

"Who knew you were that freaky, Styles?" Louis is lying on Harry's bare chest, his own struggling to go back to normal. 

He looks breathtakingly beautiful where he is, his thin fingers toying with Harry's cross necklace. The man smiles and kisses him, moist and swollen lips with a pigment of pink that matched Louis'. 

"You never asked." Harry laughs, his throat dry from the constant raising of his voice. "Besides, you're quite the submissive, Lou."

Louis scoffs like the thought is confounded and pokes Harry's dimple. "You have to feed me in the morning."

Harry doesn't entirely hear everything because he's leaning forward again and capturing Louis' lips between his. He smirks into their kiss that's messier and louder than necessary, tongues clashing and teeth clanking. His hands slide down over the curve of Louis' spine and cops a feel of his glorious bare bottom.

"How did we even end up here?" Louis' forehead is on Harry's, their noses brushing. 

"On the floor?" Harry clears his throat with a devious glint in his eye. "Well, you didn't like the window idea very much so I-"

"Oh nevermind." Louis slaps his hand over Harry's mouth. Trying to stretch but failing, he remains lightly drunk off a new high and lays his head on Harry's head. "Goodnight, Daddy."

"Sleep tight, baby boy."

Harry never got to feed Louis because the latter individual chose to race out of his apartment the second his eyes opened. He was filled with dread in the elevator, thinking that they shouldn't have done that because now they've ruined a perfectly platonic friendship that's so fond and old. 

Muttering curses at himself, Louis can't help but feel a twinge of something hurtful in his ribcage when his cab is driving away from Harry's apartment. He feeds himself a bowl full of soggy cereal when he's inside his apartment again and strips down to nothing but his boxer briefs. Remembering how Harry almost _tore_ them off him last night makes Louis whine irritably and go hot all over. 

He's not saying the sex was bad. The sex was phenomenal and he'd like to do it again but....Harry is Harry and that's sort of like crossing a boundary. His best friend deserved better than his trainwreck self.

Apart from his blistering headache, Louis gets home for all of two minutes before his iPhone vibrates persistently beside his head on the couch. 

"What the _fuck_ , Louis?!" Harry is shouting in his ear the moment he answers, no greeting or polite small talk.

Boy, he's fucking pissed this time. Louis winces at his harsh tone, full of the dominating nature he birthed last night. "Harry, I'm sorry. You know I-"

"No, just shut up. Do you know what's the worst thing in the world? Thinking you'll finally fucking get over yourself but then waking up to see you bloody _left_ without saying a damn thing."

Louis kind of wants to cry and not because it feels like his ass is drenched in flames. "Haz, I don't know what to say."

Everything goes silent for a while. A long while. Louis feels like kicking and screaming.

"See you at work on Monday." Harry hangs up, the cold curtness of his words never wearing off.

_August 15th, 2015_

Louis has a new partner. After months of battling a losing war with trying to plead apologetically to Harry, their boss finally reassigned them both. Even Harry was shocked but he didn't say anything when they were standing like scolded teenagers in the principal's office.

He got home after a day of breaking in a rookie idiot who got on his nerves a lot, and poured himself a glass of white wine. Taking it with him to the lounge, Louis' panic freezes him over when there's someone there waiting for him.

The glass in his hand tumbles to the ground, glass scattering and wine splashing all over his pants. He left his gun in the kitchen because there hasn't been any sign of this bullshit in so long that the fear seizing up in his throat is almost surreal.

This stranger's silhouette matches the one at the ice rink, standing across from him at the windows with his head lowered and hood pulled over his face. His sweater was covering his hands and his all-black attire kept everything under wraps. He stood there, breathing in a regular pattern sewing seeds of horror in Louis' mind.

As a detective, Louis finds this situation to be one where he needs to be calm and collected. It's difficult to be so when there's an intruder in his home, staring back at him from behind the shadow of his hood.

"Who are you?" He asks, proud to say that his voice didn't shake. His phone was in his back pocket and he aimed for it when he set his hands on his hips.

It felt like time turned into the rhythm of drying paint, slowing down to torturous speed as the stranger raised his hands to his hoodie. Louis didn't take note of how those hands looked and how familiar they could possibly be.

The hood falls and Louis' heart fails like a deflated balloon. He's left staring with no functioning brainwork or emotions, at the face of a man he once knew better than his entire family lineage. Louis' lips are parted as he forgets to breathe and something in his throat catches both ends, tightly knitting the passage together. 

"Harry?" He wheezes, sounding pathetic as he swallows and crosses his arms to cover some part of himself.

His former partner is more comfortable now, unzipping the hoodie and letting it rest on his chest. Beneath it was nothing and Louis could see a toned column of his abdomen, abs and all. He wanted to know what the Hell kind of joke this was because he's been scared shitless for so long now. 

"What the Hell are you doing?" He exclaims, wanting to throw something at Harry.

The air between them settles once again with Harry saying nothing, just staring with empty green eyes at his companion. His head gets tilted to the side and he looks far more psychotic than any masked stalker they've brought in together.

Louis knows there is no joke taking place here when Harry holds up a bird's feather.

Harry looks from the feather to Louis, delivering one of his sly smirks. "You should take me seriously, baby boy. I know what's good for you."


End file.
